No office rate
61570 describes removal of an intracranial foreign object by craniotomy. Choose 61571 when the coded work is surgery for an open or penetrating brain wound.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
61570 Brain foreign-body removal Medicare reimbursement rates in Georgia
Reports craniotomy to retrieve a foreign object lodged in the brain, such as a retained projectile fragment after a penetrating cranial injury. Compare 61570 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Georgia.
Amounts below use the non-QP conversion factor for participating physicians. These are base physician payments before claim-level adjustments, not patient costs or total hospital charges.
What does Medicare pay for 61570 in Georgia?
Georgia has 2 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 2 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
No supported rate
Facility setting
$1837.84–$1918.68
2 of 2 localities have a supported rate.
These are locality ranges, not averages or address-specific quotes. A facility-setting amount covers the physician service; it does not include a hospital’s separate bill. Choose a locality below to inspect its calculation, compare other payment areas, or price a percentage of Medicare.
Neurosurgery
About 61570: Intracranial foreign body removal
Reports craniotomy to retrieve a foreign object lodged in the brain, such as a retained projectile fragment after a penetrating cranial injury.
This service covers operative retrieval of a foreign object lodged within the brain through a craniotomy. A neurosurgeon typically performs it in a hospital operating room, often when imaging and the operative findings identify an intracranial object requiring removal, such as a retained projectile fragment after a penetrating injury. The target is the foreign object itself, rather than a brain mass or tissue selected for resection.
Report the service when the operative record supports the object’s intracranial location and its removal through craniotomy. The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. For multiple procedures in one session, CMS pays the highest-valued procedure in full and applies the standard reduction to the others. The anatomy makes modifier 50 inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery services may be paid; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team-surgery payment is not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 61570
- Global period
- Major surgery with a 90-day global period: the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care are included.
- Multiple procedures
- Standard multiple procedure reduction: the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50% when performed in the same session.
- Bilateral procedures
- Bilateral adjustment does not apply; the descriptor or anatomy makes modifier 50 inappropriate.
- Assistant at surgery
- Assistant at surgery may be paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons paid only with supporting documentation.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU25.85 · 47%
- Practice expense (office) RVU18.10 · 33%
- Malpractice RVU10.93 · 20%
17
Medicare services in 2024 · #6017 by national volume
This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.
61570 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Georgia, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
61566 involves removal of brain tissue. It is not the appropriate choice when the operative target is a foreign object lodged in the brain.
No office rate
61567 describes an incision involving brain tissue, rather than retrieval of a foreign object through craniotomy.
Compare 61570 by payment locality
Find the payment area for your service address, then open its rate page for calculation inputs, release history and the percentage-of-Medicare tool. A city may cross payment-area boundaries; the ZIP lookup above helps resolve the location.
2 of 2 payment localities
Atlanta →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1918.68
Rest Of Georgia →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1837.84
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61570 billing questions
How is this different from 61571?
Use 61570 when the operation removes a foreign object from the brain through craniotomy. Code 61571 concerns surgery directed at an open or penetrating brain wound; the operative service determines which code describes the work.
What documentation supports 61570?
The operative report should identify the foreign object, its intracranial location, the craniotomy approach, and the retrieval performed. Imaging and the injury history can help establish the clinical context.
Can modifier 50 be used for bilateral removal?
No. CMS identifies modifier 50 as inappropriate for this code because of the descriptor or anatomy.
How should other procedures in the same session be paid?
When multiple procedures are performed in one session, CMS pays the highest-valued procedure in full and applies the standard multiple-procedure reduction to the others.
What postoperative care is included?
The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.
Where these rates come from
FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense, and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indices and the applicable conversion factor. Unavailable or separately priced services are labeled rather than assigned a made-up amount.
Source: RVU26D. Effective 2026-10-01 through the day before 2027-01-01.
6,81461564,,Excision of skull tumor,A,,33.87,21.68,NA,21.68,,14.30,69.85,69.85,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,81561566,,Removal of brain tissue,A,,31.64,20.04,NA,20.04,,13.37,65.05,65.05,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,81661567,,Incision of brain tissue,A,,36.08,22.75,NA,22.75,,15.23,74.06,74.06,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,81761570,,Remove foreign body brain,A,,25.85,18.10,NA,18.10,,10.93,54.88,54.88,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,81861571,,Incise skull for brain wound,A,,27.71,18.76,NA,18.76,,11.72,58.19,58.19,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,81961575,,Skull base/brainstem surgery,A,,35.65,21.54,NA,21.54,,15.05,72.24,72.24,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,82061576,,Skull base/brainstem surgery,A,,53.93,48.90,NA,48.90,,22.75,125.58,125.58,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00